Friday, January 20, 2012

The Rule of 3 Challenge

The Rule of Three when it comes to kids clothes. Have three items of each type of clothes, 3 jeans, 3 short sleeves, 3 long sleeves…. You get the picture.


I have seen this rule around the web, when searching for ways to simplify life. I read it laughing, our girls have so many clothes that are so nice. There is no way I could downsize to just three of each type of clothing.  These were my feelings about 6 months ago until the girls started growing out of all their clothes.
So anyways the whole rule of three is starting to look really good right about now.  I haven’t bought any bigger size clothes yet, and the girls are in the same size, so technically I will have 6 of each item, instead of 3 of each.
The girls closet use to be so organized and neat, until Kat learned to open the doors, then it was downhill from there! My  Hubby saw my frustration and ended up putting a lock at the very top of the closet door so they could only get in when allowed. This is great, BUT it is also at times is a hassle. I tell them to run up and grab a sweatshirt before we leave, and they can't open the door. I usually end up leaving the door unlocked now that I am home with them all the time.


I counted the clothes that are in their closet right now, 20 shorts sleeve shirts, 9 pairs of jeans ( only 3 pairs actually still fit them, so why are they still in the drawer!?), 14 long sleeve shirts, 11 sweatshirts, 8 skirts, 10 pairs of leggings, 2 pairs of overalls, 5 everyday dresses, 2 formal dresses.  WHEW! Now, it may not seem like a lot for two little girls, but remember, they wear the same size!
So here is a sneak at the "before" of the closet. Notice all of the empty hangers? Those shirts are on the floor... in a pile of some clean and some dirty clothes. Thanks Kit n' Kat! Those little organizers hanging worked great for baby clothes, and as closet dividers for when they were younger and in different sizes. We use them now for pajamas, but as you can see, they are pretty empty which means the pj's are on the floor too. You can also tell that pj's have just been wadded up and throw in. GRRR...  I think I end up re-washing a lot of clothes that aren't even dirty.
It is time for a total overhaul! Big girls closet here we come! (tears... my Kit n' Kat are growing up, and no matter how unhappy I am about the state of this closet, it is sad to think I wont be sorting and organizing their clothes for very many more years.)

 First things first, sort the clothes.

I have been slowly giving away clothes that are too small, and look how many I still have!! I think it's time for a mom-to-mom sale!

I ended up putting these clothes on a shelf in their closet.

The box on the left I wrapped in a toddler size bed sheet we didn't need, just to dress it up a little. I am a gift bag hoarder and store them here, with the wrapping paper. I stacked the clothes I need to sell  up, safely tucked away until spring.

I cleaned out and organized the girls dresser so everything would be easier to find, and get to.
Drawer 1 is for sock, undies, and undershirts.
I needed drawer dividers to make this work, but didn't want to go buy anything. I had two flat rate boxes that were the perfect size soo.....
I put Kit and Kat to work painting the boxes with some leftover paint. Aren't they cute!

Here is the finished product, they aren't perfect, but it was free, and work great!

Here is drawer number two. One half is skirts and leggings. There are always worn together, which is why I put the in the same area. I ended up with 7 skirts and 8 pairs of leggings. As you can see, I folded everything, then turned them on their side so we could easily see everything, and take it out of the drawer without digging through other clothes.
This side of the drawer is for pajamas, here are four pairs, I have about 3 more pairs in the wash right now, which makes a total of 7 pairs. I folded them with the shirts tucked into the pant fold so they stay in pairs easily. I divided the drawer with cardboard.(FREE!)
Drawer 3 has 3 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of overalls, 2 pairs of dressy pants, 5 pairs of "comfy" pants, and 6 "comfy" t-shirts.

Now, on the the clothes rack.


Ahh, look at the organization! The baskets up top are for stained up play clothes. These are a few shirts that I wont let the girls wear "out" but we need to keep for paint days, muddy play days.... The other basket is for empty hangers so we can easily bring them down on laundry days.

Here is the number run down of what we kept. 4 fancy dresses, 7 sweatshirts, 2 turtlenecks, 2  3/4 sleeve shirts, 3 cardigans, 3 sweaters, 5 tunic/everyday dresses. 8 t-shirts, 8 long sleeve shirts.

Let's take one more look at
BEFORE:
AFTER:
As you can tell, I didn't stick to the rule of 3, I changed it to the rule of 4. I had to make the rule functional for us. We travel a lot and sometimes need to pack clothes for 4 or 5 days and don't always have access to a washer and dryer.

I kept all of my socks and undies for them, as we always seem to be looking for those items! I also am going to add another painted box to put on there shelf for "Lonely socks" That way I will hopefully be able to find matches for their socks easier.

This project has been a long time coming, waiting for me to have enough time to re-do it. So glad I finally did!
Happy Organizing!








5 comments:

  1. Hi! Found your blog on MBC and I'm a new follower. Follow me back at http://yabbadhabidooooo.blogspot.com/

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  2. Wow, you did that well! I need to learn to do the same. In a few days I will purchase some totes and other things to make our house (and myself lol) more organized.
    www.mylittlegoober.com

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  3. As you can see from the before picture, this organization and closet clean out was a long time coming! I just couldn't get myself motivated. I am so glad now that I did! I can actully tell the girls to go to "drawer number 1" and get socks, and they know right where to go! I also don't mind putting their clothes away anymore because everything has it's place.

    Good Luck on your organizing, and remember it is worth the effort because it will save you so much time in the long run!

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  4. HeyMama - stopping by from MBC & i so love the blog .your girls closet is absolutely big, & wondering if you know where there is a great site to advertise or sell our unwanted belongings besides the big boys like ebay&sorts . but just followed your blog - hope you follow back :
    http://thatsmamarazi.blogspot.com/

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    1. I use Facebook and search "Virtual Yard sales" I found tons of them in my area. I picked a few and posted pictures of everything I wanted to sell. It worked great, and was so much easier then having to ship the clothes, or toys to someone.

      Happy Blogging!

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